Church litterers urged to stop

A church in Kettering has urged litterers to stop, after food wrappers, drink cans, and mess have become a problem in an area people use to remember deceased loved ones.

The reverend at St Andrew’s Church, Lindsay Street, Kettering, said the main problem is people drinking alcohol in the church gardens and leaving their mess behind.

Reverend Nick Wills added: “The problem is the garden area, near to the bench is used for burial of cremated remains, so people like to sit on the bench and remember their loved ones. They should be able to do it without unpleasant surroundings.”

The church has put up polite notices, in English and Polish, to ask people to refrain from drinking and littering. Members of the church regularly go around the grounds picking up empty beer cans, cigarette ends and general litter.

They have also found excrement near to the bench within the church grounds.

Church warden Graham Dickenson said the church will be speaking to PCSOs to see if they can help with the situation.

He added: “If you look at the surroundings around the bench it is a lovely place. It can be a really pleasant spot for people to come to pay their respects to loved ones. Hopefully, if people find out about it and realise what this spot means to some people it can go back to how it was.”

Mr Dickenson said if the problem continues they would have to consider closing the gates to the church grounds when the church is closed. However, he added that would only be considered as a ‘very, very last resort.’